


Resigned

by MorganaNK



Category: Inspector Lynley - All Media Types, Inspector Lynley Mysteries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-10-31 03:04:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10890345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorganaNK/pseuds/MorganaNK
Summary: ACC Hillier decides to break up Tommy & Barbara's long-standing partnership





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Property of Elizabeth George and the BBC, no copyright infringement intended

“Come in.”

Hillier looked up as I pushed open the door.

“You asked to see me Sir?”

“Yes, take a seat.”

I sat down, folding my hands carefully in my lap.

“There’s no easy way to say the Lynley, so I’m just going to come out with it. I’ve ignored the closeness between you and Havers because of your effectiveness as a team, but I can’t ignore it any longer. People are talking about you, people higher up the command structure than me, and I have been instructed to do something about it. I am going to have to transfer one of you out of the Met.”

Breeding prevented me from reaching across the desk and choking the life out of him, but couldn’t hide the bitterness in my voice.

“I don’t understand why.”

“Don’t play the martyr Lynley, you know full well what I am talking about.”

“Why don’t you enlighten me, Sir.”

“There have been rumours about the two of you for years. You spend more time together than most married couples. I have heard about you touching her and hugging her, and I have seen the way that you two look at each other. Can you really sit there and tell me that you are surprised?”

“Yes, Sir, I can. Barbara and I have been partnered for over ten years, why has our friendship suddenly become an issue?”

“Things have changed Lynley; the public expect a different level of professionalism from their police service. What used to be acceptable or excusable is now considered inappropriate. Your overfamiliarity with Havers borders on sexual harassment by today’s standards.”

I could feel the rage that had been simmering away in the pit of my stomach spreading its tentacles throughout my body. 

“Would you care to repeat that accusation?” I was gritting my teeth so hard my jaw was aching.

“I didn’t accuse you of anything, I just stated that your overfamiliarity borders on sexual harassment by today’s standards. My hands are tied Lynley.”

“Then let me make things easier for you.” I reached into my pocket and withdrew my warrant card. I stood and threw it onto the desk. “I resign, and with immediate effect.” 

Turning on my heel I left the office, slamming the door behind me. I stormed along the corridor, my blood boiling, people hurrying out of my way. Reaching my office, I snatched up my personal property and hurried from the building.

~*~

As I came back from the kitchenette I saw Tommy disappearing through the door to the lifts. I dumped the mugs I was carrying on the nearest desk and ran after him. The lift doors closed as I reached them, so I decided to take the stairs. Breathless, I dashed out into the car park, only to see the taillights of the Bristol vanishing into the distance. I searched my pockets for my phone, before realising it was charging on my desk. Cursing loudly, I hurried back inside.

I retrieved my phone and then took myself off to Tommy’s office. As I was about to call him I spotted his phone abandoned next to his computer. I cursed again.

“Damn you Tommy, you don’t make things easy!”

I returned to my desk, planning to shut down my computer and then head out to search for Tommy. As I gathered my bits and pieces together Hillier’s secretary appeared in front of me.

“ACC Hillier needs to speak to you immediately.”

My heart sank. I placed my bag back into my desk drawer and headed towards the office.

“You need to see me?”

“Ah, Havers, please sit down.”

I perched nervously on the edge of the chair.

“What is this about Sir?”

“I have news. DI Lynley has resigned with immediate effect…”

I knew that Hillier was still talking to me, but none of his words were registering. Tommy had resigned and he hadn’t had the decency to tell me himself. None of this made any sense.

“Why has he resigned Sir?”

“Personal reasons, ones that I am not prepared to go into. I am going to make you acting DI and partner you with DC Nkata…”

I tuned Hillier out, not caring what he had to say. My priority was Tommy; I needed to find him, talk to him, and make sure he didn’t do anything stupid.

“I’m sorry Sir, I have to go.”

Not waiting for him to excuse me, I sprinted from the room.


	2. Chapter 2

I parked the Bristol outside my house and switched off the engine. Now I had put some distance between myself and Hillier I was beginning to calm down, and as I calmed down the enormity of what I had just done hit me. I didn’t regret resigning, I had been thinking about it for a while, but I had wanted to discuss it with Barbara before I did.

Barbara. I assumed that Hillier would have spoken to her by now. Either she hated me or she was worried sick. I knew that I should call her, even if it led to me experiencing her wrath. Climbing out of the car I headed indoors.

As I reached my car my mobile started ringing.

“What’s going on Sir? Where the bloody hell are you?”

“And hello to you too.”

“Don’t okay, don't. Not after I’ve just had Hillier tell me that you’ve resigned for personal reasons. He expected me to act up as DI.”

“I thought he might… hang on, you said he expected you to. What have you done Barbara?”

“Bugger that! I want to know what’s going on with you. Why did you resign? More to the point, why didn’t you tell me that you were planning on resigning?”

“I’m at home Barbara; why don’t you come round so that we can discuss this face to face.”

“So, now you want to talk to me!”

“I’ll explain everything when you get here.”

“I’ll be twenty minutes.”

As I drove to his house I grumbled and muttered under my breath. I seemed to be forever chasing after Tommy and worrying about him. He didn’t ask me to, but as his best friend I felt that it was my responsibility to keep putting Humpty back together again.

I parked my car behind Tommy’s, retrieved my bag and headed towards his front door. It swung open before I reached the top step. I pushed past him and into the lounge.

“This had better be good!”

“Can I get you anything? Tea? Coffee?”

I dumped my bag on the floor, dropping my coat on top of it, daring him to say anything.

“What you can get me is an explanation. Why did I need to hear about your resignation from Hillier?”

“Why don’t you sit down.”

“No Sir, I won’t bloody sit down! I am so angry right now I can hardly think straight! I thought we were friends. In fact, I thought we were closer than that.”

“We are Barbara.”

“Then why do I feel like you’ve abandoned me?”

Her words hit me hard. Was that what I had done? I hadn’t meant to. I chose not to focus on that right now and just explain what had happened.

“Hillier called me in to tell me that he had been instructed by someone further up the command structure to transfer one of us out of the Met because of our closeness. I disagreed with him, only to be told that my behaviour towards you could be classed as sexual harassment.”

“He. Said. What?”

I decided not to repeat myself. “I lost my temper, told him that I would save him the trouble of transferring one of us by resigning. If I could have spoken to you then I would have, I was just so angry with him.”

“At least you didn’t have a balcony to throw him off. What about your behaviour towards me could be classed as sexual harassment and why did they only mention it now?”

I ignored the comment about the balcony. “It is inappropriate for me to touch you or hug you and, apparently Hillier has, and I quote, seen the way you two look at each other.”

“And what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I didn’t bother to ask. As I said, I lost my temper and resigned. It was that or lunge across the desk and throttle him.”

“Glad to see you chose the lesser of the two evils; I don’t think I could have defended your career a third time.”

“I don’t care about my career, that is why I resigned.”

“I don’t suppose you remember the deal we made at the end of the case at Sir Stuart Stinhurst’s house?”

I frowned and then realisation hit me. “You are not going to give up your career because I’ve resigned.”

“That’s my decision, isn’t it? Anyway, I doubt very much I have any sort of career left after walking out on Hillier.”

“Is that what you meant when you said that Hillier expected you to act up as DI?”

“Yes. I have absolutely no intention of taking over your role, temporarily or otherwise.”

“You’re a great detective Barbara.”

“So are you, but that doesn’t change the fact that if you resign then I resign.”

I threw my hands in the air and growled, frustrated that Barbara wouldn’t see sense.

“Why won’t you listen to me?”

“It’s quite simple, in fact it is so simple I am surprised that I am having to repeat myself. You decided to resign. You didn’t discuss it with me, as far as I know you didn’t discuss it with anyone. You just resigned. I decided a long time ago that I only wanted to work as a detective if I could work with you. If, for any reason, you stopped working as a detective then I would do likewise. It’s my decision and there is nothing you can do or say to change my mind.”

“You need to be rational Barbara, you have a mortgage and bills, you can’t just walk away from your job.”

I knew I had said the wrong thing as soon as the words left my mouth. Her face hardened, and the fury that she had arrived with returned. She snatched up her coat and bag and made to leave.

“Barbara, wait!”

“Why? You have made my position perfectly clear. Someone like me can’t afford to have principles. I should be grateful that I have a job and ignore anything about it that upsets me, offends me, or goes against my morals or beliefs. Thank you for reinforcing my place in the world. I think we’re done here!”

She was out of the door and in her car before I had time to react.


	3. Chapter 3

I shut the front door, locking it before putting the chain on. Dropping my bag on the floor I slipped out of my coat and kicked off my shoes. I pulled the phone plug out of the wall socket and tugged all the curtains closed. I didn’t want to see anyone, speak to anyone, or communicate with anyone in any way.

I went to the bathroom and started to run a bath. Undressing, I climbed into the tub, sinking into the deep, bubble covered water. Resting my head against the edge, I closed my eyes and let the warmth wash over me.

I was still angry with Tommy, as well as hurt, irritated, and a whole heap of other emotions that I couldn’t pin down. We were friends, or at least I thought that we were, now I wasn’t so sure. Until today I would have sworn that he and I could talk about anything and everything; it appeared that I was mistaken. I understood that he had lost his temper after Hillier’s comment about sexual harassment; I could even understand him resigning, it was the kind of knee jerk response he was prone to making. What I couldn’t understand was his reaction when I said that I was resigning too.

I wasn’t stupid, I knew I had a mortgage and bills, I wasn’t a child that needed things spelling out. Perhaps Tommy was thinking of me but, in the end, it was my life, my job, and my decision.

~*~

I sat on my couch, a tumbler of whiskey in my hand. I stared into the amber liquid, swirling it but not raising it to my lips to drink.

I had hurt Barbara, and badly. That hadn’t been my intention; I wouldn’t do that to her deliberately for all the world. She was my best friend. She was my confidant. She was the one person in my life that it would kill me to lose. That was why I had reacted so angrily when Hillier had commented on our relationship, it felt as if he was belittling her and what she meant to me, and I couldn’t let that pass.

I had tried phoning her without success; her mobile went straight to voicemail and her landline just kept ringing. I wasn’t surprised that she was avoiding me, but I needed to make things right. I put the tumbler on the table and picked up my keys, my apology couldn’t wait until she calmed down. I had to speak to her now, I had to make her understand.


	4. Chapter 4

I came up from under the water, pushing my hair back from my face. Hearing a noise, I froze, waiting to see if I was imagining things, and then I heard it again. Someone was at my front door, and I had a pretty good idea who it was.

I thought about ignoring him, but knew I would have to talk to him sooner or later so it might as well be sooner. I stepped out of the bath, wrapping myself in a towel, using another to make a turban for my hair, before pulling the plug to let the bath drain and heading for the door. 

The power of speech abandoned me as soon as Barbara opened the door. I swallowed deeply as my eyes devoured her graceful neck, and the flawless skin of her shoulders and chest, a hint of cleavage just visible above where she had tucked in the corner of her towel. An unsubtle cough drew my attention up to her face, and I was relieved to see she looked slightly amused.

“Can I help you Sir?”

“I… um… I came to apologise.”

“I guess you’d better come in then.”

I stood back to let Tommy pass and then closed the door behind him, trying to wipe the smile from my face before I turned around to face him. My residual anger had fled, replaced with amusement as his jaw had hit the floor and he had stared at me. I was glad; I hated being at odds with him, not that I could ever stay angry with him for long these days.

“I’m sorry to interrupt.”

“You didn’t, I had just finished my bath when you knocked.”

Tommy swallowed deeply again, trying desperately to look anywhere except at my chest. I chose not to comment, it would have been very hypocritical of me, and I was happy that we weren’t rowing.

“Do you want to, I mean, shouldn’t you go and put some clothes on?”

I bit back laughter. “Didn’t I say something similar to you once? I think we were in Cambridge.”

Barbara seemed to be enjoying tormenting me. While I was glad that she didn’t seem to be angry with me any longer, she was testing my restraint to its very limits. I sat down heavily on her couch, almost crying in exasperation when she sat down next to me, the towel riding up and showing her thighs.

“I’m sorry I walked out on you earlier Sir.”

“No, I am the one who should apologise. I had no right to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do in relation to your job.”

“You’re right, you didn’t, but I understand why you said what you did, even if you could have worded it in a slightly less poncy manner. That said, I’m still resigning.”

“There’s nothing I can say to change your mind?”

“Nope.”

“Then will you let me help you, call it a loan, to tide you over until you find another job?”

“Nope.”

“Barbara, I don’t want to see you struggle because of me.”

“You won’t, and none of this is because of you, well, not really. I couldn’t carry on working for Hillier, not when he was so rude about our friendship. We are still friends, aren’t we?”

I turned to face her, taking her hands in mine. “I would hope that it would take more than me being poncy to break our friendship.”

“You being poncy didn’t worry me, me being a bitch did.”

“You weren’t,” she quirked an eyebrow at me, “okay, you were, but that wouldn’t make me end our friendship.”

“We really should try talking to each other rather than yelling or walking away.”

“Us? Talk? As if we’d ever do that. Anyway, now we’re friends again, do you want to go for a pint?”

Barbara laughed heartily, “you know somewhere I can go dressed like this?”

I closed my eyes, offering up a silent prayer to anyone who might listen. “I think you mean undressed.”

Barbara tugged her hands from mine, “sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I’ll go and put some clothes on.” She stood and went to leave the room.

“Barbara, wait.”

She turned back to face me.

“You’re not making me uncomfortable, not really.”

“Then what’s going on?”

“Sit down, please.”

She sat down and looked at me expectantly.

“I owe you a proper explanation; why I reacted the way I did with Hillier, why I worry about you so much. You deserve to know.

“When Hillier said that the way I behaved towards you could be classed as sexual harassment, something inside me snapped. He was cheapening our friendship, what you mean to me; belittling it, and it made me so mad.

"Resigning was something I had been thinking about doing for a while, but I was going to talk to you about it. The job isn’t the same anymore; too much red tape, always worrying about the offender and their human rights rather than those of the victim or the officer arresting them.

“Barbara, you may not believe this, and I won’t blame you if you don’t, but you are the most important person in my life. If I were to lose you, I wouldn’t survive.”

“Tommy.”

The fact that I had called him Tommy instead of sir seemed to go right over his head, he was too lost in what he was saying to me, in trying to tell me what he needed to before I slapped him or threw him out in a fit of rage.

“I can’t remember the exact moment I realised that I was in love with you; it crept up on me, but I knew I loved you were shot, and when Garrett held you hostage I would have torn that pub down brick by brick to get to you.

“I have treated you so badly, pushed you away and then expected you to be there when I needed you. I don’t deserve you, but I hope, even if you don’t feel the way I do, that somehow we can still be friends.”

“Tommy.”

He finally looked at me, awe and wonder across his face. “You called me Tommy.”

“Twice. I was beginning to think I’d have to drop the towel to get your attention.”

“That probably would have worked.”

I smiled softly, “I shall store that information for future reference. Look Tommy, it is never going to be easy for us, and perhaps we’re crazy to even try, but I’m willing to if you are.”

“Really?”

“Really. Do you still fancy that pint?”

“Why?”

“Well, you might think this a bit forward of me, but seeing as we’re taking chances here I might as well take another one.” I pulled the towel off my head, then stood and dropped the one wrapped around my body. Tommy’s eyes nearly came out on stalks and I grinned. “You were right, it did get your attention.”

“Now you have it, what are you going to do with it?”

“Do you really need instructions?”

Tommy wrapped his arms around me, “why don’t you try me and find out.” He lowered his lips to mine and kissed me.


	5. Chapter 5

I woke to find Barbara lying on her side, studying me intently.

“Morning you.”

A smile slowly bloomed across her face. “Morning.”

“In case I forgot to tell you yesterday, I love you.”

She blushed and lowered her gaze, “you may not have told me, but you showed me, repeatedly. I love you too by the way.”

I gently kissed her forehead, “I kind of worked that out. So, have you got any plans for today?”

“After telling Hillier where he can insert my warrant card? No. Do you?”

“Well, as much as I would love to watch you instruct Hillier on the finer points of warrant card insertion I don’t think my presence would be welcomed.”

“Probably not, but it would amuse the hell out of me.”

“Tempting, but I shall keep out of the way. What I was thinking of doing was making room in my cutlery drawer for your knickers.”

“What are you saying Tommy?”

“I want you to move in with me. After last night, I don’t want to spend a minute apart from you that I don’t have to. I’m not trying to steal your independence, I just want to spend the rest of my life loving you.”

“Are you sure this is what you want Tommy?”

“I’m positive, but you don’t sound as if you are.”

“I am,” Barbara knelt up on the mattress, “I promise you I am. This, you, us; it is more than I ever dreamed possible. Although I was the one to make the first move, I can’t help thinking that someone is going to pinch me and I’ll wake up. Does that make sense?”

I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her to lie down next to me and then tracing her spine with my hand.

“It does, but you don’t need to worry about waking up. This is real, our relationship is real. I won’t promise you that we will never argue, you’d know I was lying if I did, but I can promise you that it won’t be ever be enough for me to leave you. We’ve been arguing for over ten years and yet here we both are, still together. I want everything with you Barbara.”

“Everything? As in marriage?”

“Eventually yes, but I am not going to rush you. Move in with me, let me show you that our lives aren’t all that different, that being with me isn’t all ballgowns, Bollinger and Burke’s Peerage.”

“When you put it like that; my answer is yes.”

I rolled us so that she was underneath me, “I promise you won’t regret this Barbara.”

~*~

I stood in front of Hillier, and for the first time ever I felt calm.

“I am waiting for an explanation Detective Sergeant Havers. You left my office yesterday when we were in a middle of a meeting and you were in the middle of your shift. No one could contact you. Do you think that this is acceptable behaviour for a member of the Metropolitan Police?”

Letting his words wash over me, I reached into my bag and retrieved my warrant card and work mobile. “With immediate effect, I hereby resign from the Metropolitan Police. Tommy told me what happened yesterday, and I want it known that he has never, in all the time we have worked together, harassed me in any way, especially not sexually. He has always been a dedicated police officer, a loyal, honest man, and one I am proud to be able to call my friend.”

I didn’t wait for a reply.

I climbed into the Bristol, closing the door and resting my head back against the seat.

“How did he take it?”

“I didn’t hang around to find out, just handed over the property, said my piece and left.”

“And how do you feel?”

“I managed not to punch him.”

“That’s two of us who’ve fought the urge and won!”

“He wasn’t worth it. Can we go home now Tommy? This place has taken enough from both of us.”

“Your wish is my command.”


End file.
